I could see one enjoying it, but best of 2014?!
Personally it'd be very high on my overrated movies of 2014 list (if i had one).
Boyhood, Interstellar, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Under the Skin, Edge of Tomorrow, Captain America, X-Men, Snowpiercer, etc. are all far higher on my rankings, and i could go on. I also haven't seen even half of the movies i'm suspecting to be best of 2014 caliber due to them not being released here yet.
What about Apes is so appealing to you?
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes...now
that was great movie making. We identify with multiple characters, human and ape. There are bad individuals on both sides. We want the them to resolve their differences. It's sad when the selfish actions of the few destroy all hope that apes and humans will be able to coexist peacefully. It emphasizes that, in any conflict, an opportunity for peace might be the only opportunity you'll ever have...so don't blow it.
My mother doesn't like movies, but I do make her watch them sometimes. Only the best movies have any kind of impact on her. You should have seen her on the edge of the couch, completely absorbed in this film. It takes a special movie to do that with my mother. I'm so cynical that it rarely happens to me, but that's how I felt in the theater.
That said, it's not perfect. I don't like Gary Oldman's character. The "Malcolm" character does the cliche racking-the-slide thing when when he's holding others at gunpoint. The kid says he'll be safer with Malcolm (?!) when Malcolm is returning to the apes' home (after Caesar forbade all humans from coming back). Those are minor imperfections. The most significant "flaw" is that the titles should have been swapped between this movie and the one before (
Rise of the Planet of the Apes). That will
always bother me. The overall story can be enjoyed on multiple levels. There's chaotic action for the Michael Bay fans.
Now...
Boyhood is the very definition of "over-rated." One of the most over-rated movies of all time. It's a gimmick and practically nothing else.
Gone Girl: Requires massive suspension of disbelief. Flawed story. Also hugely over-rated. That said, I didn't like Fincher's version of
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo either.
Edge of Tomorrow was interesting and fun, but it really needed a better ending. It's one of the better movies I've seen this year. I stop short of calling it a "great movie." I've watched it a few times. Once in the theater, then purchased and watched with a few different people.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a bit silly, but way better than I would expect a Captain America movie to be. It had a relevant / timely message. In the end,
Guardians of the Galaxy had more mass appeal. I've seen
CA:WS twice and
GotG 3 times. I probably won't watch any of them again.
Snowpiercer was absolutely terrible. The worst "movie" I've forced myself to watch this year. Fuck you, Internet people, for hyping this style-over-substance piece of shit! I don't care about budget and visuals. I love movies for their story (examples:
Blood Simple,
True Romance). The "story" in
Snowpiercer was fucking awful and non-sensical. Clearly made by young idiots. I got the same vibe from
The Grey and
District 9. I hate those movies so much, to articulate all the reasons would waste hours and hours of my life.
Interstellar is grand and definitely something everyone should experience at least once. However, I think it overshoots itself. It crams too much into the story and that does make it a chore to watch. I understand the hype for this one, but I probably won't watch it again.
Haven't seen the others you mentioned.
I couldnt figure out if I was supposed to be cheering for the apes or not.
The apes aren't the bad guys. The people aren't either.
The most compelling protagonist was Caesar and the most compelling antagonist was Koba. The humans also had a protagonist (Malcolm) and antagonist (Carver). The human story is still important because it draws parallels that make it easier to empathize with ape characters.